Tablighi Jamaat members from AP, TS returned by March 17th : organizer

Hyderabad: Preliminary data collated by the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments reveal that around 749 from the two Telugu speaking states attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin.

Figures reveal 380 people had participated in the congregation from Telangana. Around 369 participants were from Andhra. Six participants, who tested positive for COVID-19, later died in Telangana.

Both governments have launched a massive hunt to trace the participants and their primary contacts. A day after the TS government announced the COVID-19 deaths, the state police in coordination with the collectors are on their toes to track down the contacts.

Tablighi Jamaat convocation is held every two years at Hazrat Nizamuddin in Delhi. Presided by Moulana Saadh, Tablighi members address the gathering and motivate Muslims to say Namaz.

Tablighi Jamaat members also go door to door motivating people to say Namaz. People from AP and Telangana started to return on the evening of March 17. Most of the members reached their hometown from March 18 and March 20.

Meanwhile, the Tableegh Markaz in New Delhi has maintained that no gatherings were held after the prohibitory lockdown orders were issued by the state and central governments.

In its letter to the Assistant Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, the Tableegh Markaz maintained that “the question of a gathering of many persons despite the prohibitory lockdown orders does not arise at all as these persons were already inside the Markaz before and at the time of promulgation of prohibitory-lockdown orders.”

The letter also stated that no new person was allowed to enter the Markaz after the lockdown order.

It may be recalled that the Delhi Health and Family Welfare Department on March 16 had ordered restrictions on all social, cultural, religious, political and academic events. However, reports suggest that the religious gathering was held from March 13-15, a day before the government had issued restriction orders.